French Reverie

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Summer ends early today for the French Cabinet. President Hollande has ordered his ministers back to work 13 days before the end of August and has demanded homework in the form of essays on their visions for France 12 years hence.

He is to be commended for inviting his team to think big. Europe can only hope he also has the wisdom to consign their submissions promptly to the archives, for those leaked to the press are shot through with naive optimism where realism was needed. Some offerings border on the delusional. None grapples with France’s overriding priorities, which are